Do you remember me?
by MaiKujakufan
Summary: Umi wakes up in the hospital with no idea who she is or why she is wearing an engagment ring. Her friend Ren brings her a book about a lost young girl and the story of her life begins to unfold. RenXOc HaoXOc Loosely based of the movie The Notebook
1. Prologue

Mai: Ok this is a new fic the idea just popped up in my head one day and I've finally decided to type it down. Anyway I hope you enjoy it.

December 11, 2007, Mai: Ok so I've decided to revise the first few chapters. I love this fic but I don't think the beginning is as strong as it could be. I didn't do too much to this one. I just fixed up some spelling mistakes and added another paragraph. Over all there's not much I could do with the prologue. In the future I'm sure I'll change more. I'm not sure how many chapters I'm going to revise. I might end up revising all of them since I'm never completely satisified with my writing. But I'm sure I'll revise at least the first five chapters. Also I will continue to work on the next chapter. It's about half way done now but I'm having a minor bout of writer's block so it might take awhile.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King. If I did I would make Ren fall in love with someone like Umi. Oh by the way I do own Umi and Sen. Ok maybe Sen was an idea made up by a friend of mine.

Prologue

She woke up late on the morning of the accident. She stirred when light hit her eyes. She rubbed them and looked to her left to see that her fiancé had already gotten up. Yawning she pulled on some clothes, brushed her teeth and walked into the living room of her penthouse apartment. She called for her fiancé but he had already left the apartment. She just shrugged it off and made herself some coffee.

Later she went to the store to get some things she needed. She was driving back when it happened. She was driving through the intersection and there was a guy in a truck driving way too fast and who ran a red light. The truck hit her car full force. Her head collided with the steering wheel but luckily her foot was slammed into the breaks just in time to avoid her swerving off into the sidewalk.

She felt herself slipping into the black void of unconsciousness. All she could think of was her fiancé's face. She hoped that she would get to see it again. And just before the darkness swallowed her completely she whispered his name.


	2. Chapter 1: Who am I?

Mai: Ok here's the first real chapter. I hope you like it.

December 14, 2007: Mai: Ok so here's the revised version of chapter one. I didn't do much to this one either. I basically just went back over it and tried to make the relationships a clearer and give the characters a little bit more of an emotional response. Other than that not much to fix. It's still not very long sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King. If I did there would be a lot more romance in it. However I do own Umi and my friend owns Sen (who comes in later chapters) but my friend is kind enough to let me use Sen.

Chapter 1: Who am I?

She woke up in an unfamiliar white room. Looking around she saw a small window, the bed that she was laying on, a small beside table, and lots of beeping machines. There was a chair in the corner of the room, and asleep in the chair was a blue haired girl. She also noticed that there was an empty chair pulled up beside her bed.

There were a million questions buzzing through her head. Where was she? Why was she there? Who was that blue haired girl? And mostly importantly who was she? She panicked realizing that she couldn't remember a thing.

The girl in the chair stirred and opened her eyes. For a moment they just stared at each other. Then the girl smiled and said, "Oh my god. I'm so glad you're awake. Everyone so worried about you. We were beginning to think you might never wake up. Ren-san almost beat up several doctors for even suggesting that."

"Who's Ren-san? Who are you?" she asked the girl. "Who am I?"

"Oh my god," she rushed out of the room looking like she'd just seen a ghost.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE HAS AMNESIA!" Tao Ren yelled at his distressed (hopefully still) soon-to-be sister-in-law, Usui Pirika.

"She woke up and when I told her that everyone was worried about her she asked me who I am and who she is," Pirika said sadly.

"Well we have to talk to the doctor then," he said calming down but still extremely shocked. This couldn't be happening to him. The woman he loved couldn't have finally woken up only to completely forget about him.

The doctor told him that he had run tests and she indeed had amnesia. He also said that she would probably not be able to accept everything right away.

"She's still in shock so if you tell her everything right away it could cause some problems. It would be best if you let her discover the truth by herself or if you gently prod her memory."

"I understand," Ren told the doctor sadly. Why did something like this have to happen? He should be able to be happy about her finally waking up.


	3. Chapter 2: Bits and Pieces

Mai: Another chapter because I'm bored and have nothing better to do with my time.

January 7, 2008: Happy New Year! Ok so this reediting thing isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I've been able to slightly improve these first few chapters. Still they're not nearly as good as I want them to be. They just don't seem to want to be fixed up too much. Oh well I guess that's just the way things are sometimes. Anyway enjoy there's not much of a difference but it's a little better.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King. I also do not own The Notebook which is what inspired the basic storyline of this fic. I do own Umi and Sen (who comes in later chapters.)

Chapter 2: Bits and Pieces

Ren entered his fiancée's room to see her standing by a mirror examining her face. Her hands went up and down the pretty face while she stared into the own deep blue eyes. She fingered her long light blue hair as if she'd never seen it before. Her fingers then traced every aspect of her beautiful face with a newfound fascination that scared him.

Ren cleared his throat and she turned around. The look she gave him made his heart ache. She looked at him like she'd never seen him before.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better," he told her. She looked confused. He could see her thoughts etched onto her face. She was trying to figure out who he was.

"Umi you're awake!" her brother exclaimed as he crashed through the door. His name was Horo-Horo and he had the same blue hair as his sister. His eyes were a bit of a darker blue though. His usual clumsy smile was mixed with concern and hope as he stared at his sister.

"Umi? Is that my name?" she asked confused.

"Yes it is," Ren told her sweetly. Horo-Horo was looking confused. Why was his sister acting like she had no clue who she or anyone else was? "Can I see you in the hallway?" Ren asked seeing how clueless Horo was.

"You sister has amnesia." Those were possibly the worst words that Horo-Horo Usui had ever heard. How could his loving older sister be totally clueless? She was usually the one who knew exactly what was going on.

"I know it's hard," Ren continued, "but the doctor says it's better if we let her discover her life by herself. He said that we should tell her about the accident but wait until she figures out the rest to avoiding stressing her out. Though we are allowed to gently prod her memory."

It took him a few minutes but finally Horo-Horo was ready to calmly reenter his sister's room. He saw her talking to his other sister Pirika.

"Are my sister or something?" he heard Umi ask Pirika.

"Yes we're sisters."

"Am I older or younger than you?"

"Older."

"Is that other boy related to us?"

"Yes, he's our brother, Horo-Horo."

"Older or younger?"

"Older than me but younger than you." Horo was amazed at how calm Pirika was while answering Umi's questions. He wasn't sure he would be able to handle it when his turn came.

"Hi," Umi greeted her brother. "I have another question. What happened to me? Why am I in the hospital?"

"Well Umi you were in a car crash. You hit your head pretty hard and that's why you have amnesia," Ren told her gently.

"Wow. How long have I been here?"

"Five months."

"So that's why I have no injuries they've all had time to heal. Who are you?" she asked Ren. She was trying so hard not to panic. But it wasn't easy for her to deal with not knowing a single thing about herself.

"I'm Ren."

"And we're friends?" she asked.

"Yes you could say that we're very good friends," he said remembering the doctors orders not to give away too much. She knew there was something he wasn't telling her.

She sighed. Whatever it was she had to get to it herself. It wouldn't be easy to reclaim her life but somehow she knew her siblings and Ren would help her.

That night Ren went home determined to come up with a way to help his fiancée. Then he found a small blue notebook that Umi had given him once. He smiled realizing that he had just found a powerful tool. He sat up for hours that night writing in the small notebook.


	4. Chapter 3: The Story

Mai: Ok I finally finished this chapter. God you have no idea how hard it is for me to write a chapter like this. Well for anybody who cares it's hard because when I start a story I usually have a basic idea of how it's going to turn out and what the major events are. This chapter is mostly just easing into major events so it's hard because I can think of a million different ways for these events to occur and I have to decide which one is the best for the story. Anyway I'm probably just boring people now.

January 21, 2008: Ok so here's another revision. For this one it was mostly reformatting the story part to be more like the rest of the fic. However I do think that I was able to significantly improve this chapter. This reediting thing is hard but I think it's something I had to do for this fic. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own nor have I ever owned Shaman King. All I own are my original characters, and copies of the Shaman King manga.

Chapter 3: The story

"Is it ok if I read you a story?" Ren asked Umi when he came to visit her the next day.

"Sure have I heard it before?" she asked.

"Yes you inspired it. It's about you. Hopefully it'll help to jog some memories," he told her.

"Oh now I really want to hear it." Ren smiled when Umi said this before opening the book and beginning the story.

"_Concentrate!" Hao Asakura yelled at his blue-haired follower. _

_Hao was no taller than a normal fifteen year old boy but his presence made most people shake with fear and it inspired an amazing level of obedience from his followers. His dark brown hair was so long that he looked like a girl from the back (of course his huge earrings didn't help either). His dark eyes were the only thing that gave away that he was really hundreds of years old. He wore a beige pancho, black pants, a huge belt and earrings which were covered in stars._

"_I am dumbass! I completed the task five minutes ago and if you'd been paying attention you would have seen that," Umi responded annoyed. Any other follower would have been fleeing for their life if they ever said something like this to Hao but Umi was special. The whole camp knew how Hao felt about Umi. Everyone knew his plan to ask Umi to marry him. Well everyone but Umi herself that is. She was way to busy looking at Hao to notice him looking back. _

_Umi was a tall fifteen year old girl. Her long slivery blue hair, deep blue eyes, and pale complexion suggested that she was of Ainu heritage but since she had been abandoned as a baby no could tell her whether or not this was true._

"_Oh yes so you did. Well that's it for now there's nothing else that you really need to know for the second round," he said trying to hide the blush spreading across his face._

"_Thank you, Hao-sama," she replied happily before rushing off. Hao sighed as she rushed off. She was the one for him. He had known it since he was five. This beautiful young shaman was exactly the kind of girl he needed._

"What's a shaman?" Umi asked interrupting the story.

"A shaman is a person who can see ghosts and spirits and harness their power. You see not everyone can see ghosts and spirits only shaman and people with extra sixth sense can. Now can I continue the story?"

"Yes of course you can," she said.

_So Umi went to find her friends the hanagumi. After about 10 minutes she found them sitting out on the outskirts of the camp._

"_Hey Kanna!" she called out to the leader of the group. Kanna was a tall girl just a few years older than Umi. Kanna had blue hair and always wore a skimpy tube top and a pair of shorts. As usual today Kanna was smoking a cigarette and talking to Mari and Macchi the other two members of her group._

_Mari was a year younger and a foot shorter than Umi. She wore her long blond hair in pigtails with black lacy ribbons. She preferred to wear mostly black dresses with lace trims and she always carried around an old blond doll with her._

_Matchi was about the same age and height as Mari (of course both ages are guesses since the girls don't usually share any personal details about themselves with anyone). She liked to wear her spiky orange hair in pig tails too. She was wearing a white t-shirt under black overalls like she did most days. She always carried a broom around with her giving her a slightly witchy look._

"_How's training going?" Kanna asked looking up._

"_Done," Umi proclaimed proudly as she sat down beside Mari._

"_Good, Mari was worried that Umi would spend all her time and in training and not hang out with us any more," Mari said._

"_Worry no more. I'm a free girl until the second round starts or Hao gives me something to do."_

"_Well you should be praying for an assignment 'cause there's nothing to do around here," Matchi said. The happy little witch girl actually sounded less peppy than usual when she said this so Umi figured that boredom had once again taken hold of the camp._

"_Well we could go spy on Yoh Asakura and his friends," Umi suggested._

"_Why?" Matchi asked._

"_I don't know. To collect information, check them out, whatever you feel like doing."_

"_Ladies can I borrow Umi for a second?" Hao asked politely fifteen minutes later interrupting a huge fight the girls were having about what to do._

"_Hao-sama does not need to ask, Hao-sama knows what the answer will be," Mari told him._

"_Right you are Mari but I'm trying to be polite to my four most loyal followers," he said grinning. The girls all blushed because this was just about the highest compliment Hao could give them._

"_Thank you, Hao-sama," the four girls said in perfect unison._

"_You're welcome, Ladies. Now run along while I talk to Umi."_

"_What is it you desire of me Hao-sama?" Umi asked once the other girls had left._

"_Well I want you to go and try to eliminate Yoh Asakura's friends."_

"_Really? You think I'm strong enough?" she asked excited._

"_Yes I do," Hao told her smiling, "also don't worry about the X-laws I made sure that they won't be bothering you today."_

"_Hao, what did you do to them this time?" she asked accusingly._

"_I might have sent a surprise musical annoyance to bug them today," he told her grinning evilly._

"_Not the Boz! Hao, you know that they are possibly the most annoying musical group in the world. Do you want to piss the X-laws off even more?" she asked shaking her head._

"_Yeah well I couldn't resist it's just so much fun to annoy them. Besides they already think I'm the spawn of the devil how much more could they possibly hate me?"_

"_Whatever. When do you want me to leave?" she asked._

"_Within the next hour," the long haired boy responded._

"_Done, Hao-sama," she said smiling. "I'll see you later!"_

"No don't stop," Umi begged Ren when she saw him pause and look at his watch. "I really like the story."

"I'm sorry but I have to go. I really wish I could stay but I can't. I have to meet my sister," he told her apologetically.

"Oh well. Will you come back and read me some more later, Ren-kun?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes I will," he promised.

"One more thing," she said as he got up and started to leave.

"Yes?"

"Do you know who gave me this?" she asked holding up her engagement ring, which he had ordered never to be removed from her finger all through those long months in the hospital.

"Yes I do," he answered.

"So I'm engaged?" she asked.

"Yes and he loves you very much."

"Does he visit me?"

"Yes." Ren longed to just grab her and tell her that he was the fiancé she was asking about and that he loved her more than anything. But that would be too much for her over stressed mind to handle. She needed to figure it out for herself.

"So I have met him since I woke up."

"Yes, but now you only know him as a friend," he said forcing himself to remain calm. He'd have her back soon enough. He had to believe that or he wouldn't know what to do with himself.

"Please tell me who he is," she begged.

"No you wouldn't believe me, you have to figure it out for yourself," he told her teasingly.

"Oh alright. I guess I'll see you later Ren-kun."

"Yeah see ya later," he answered distractedly. _God I want to be hers again. I wish she'd look at me like she used to._


	5. Chapter 4: How We Met

Mai: Ok here's the next chapter. I hope you like it.

January 23, 2008: Ok so here's my latest update. Not a lot to add just a few descriptions and fixing some mistakes and technical errors. But I do believe that it's all making my story stronger so I'm glad to do it. So enjoy

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King. Sadly all I own is Umi and Sen.

Chapter 4: How We Met

"Pirika!" Ren called as he saw his (hopefully still) future sister-in-law leave Umi's room.

"Hi Ren, what's up?" she asked trying to sound cheerful.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Well she still doesn't remember a thing beyond what we've told her, but otherwise she's fine. On the plus side she's been asking when you'll come back with that book you're reading her. By the way what are you reading her?" the Ainu girl asked finishing her report.

"Well I wrote down the story of how I fell in love with her and I'm reading it to her to help her memory."

"Wow, that's a good idea. Well I've gotta go I'm meeting Chocolove in the park apparently he wants to ask me something," the younger Ainu girl told him smiling.

"Well I'll see you later," he said her as she rushed off. As soon as she was out of sight Ren shook his head at how naïve Pirika was. Couldn't she see that Chocolove was in love with her? He had been ever since she laughed at his jokes for the first time.

He quickly brushed these thoughts aside as he entered Umi's room to see her sitting on the bed reading a book. She was wearing a red sweater and dark blue jeans today instead of her hospital gown.

"Oh hi Ren-kun!" she said smiling as she saw him enter. "I was hoping you'd stop by so I could tell you the good news. The doctors say that I can leave the hospital later today. Yoh and Anna said I could come live with them in the inn."

She had met her friends Yoh and Anna for the first time (well for her anyway) the day before. Asakura Yoh was a laid back friendly guy who always had a smile. He was about average height with messy brown hair and dark eyes. He didn't button his shirt and he wore sandals and orange headphones. When she asked about his clothing habits he said he always dressed like that.

His fiancée Kyoyama Anna was a slightly cold and cruel woman. Underneath her hard exterior however Umi sensed that she was a deeply caring person but if you told her you thought that you were dead. She was a little shorter than her fiancé and she had shoulder length blond hair and dark eyes. She wore a black dress with a red bandana and blue beaded necklace.

"That's great!" he said relived that she was all right, except for the amnesia. He really wished she was going back to their apartment but telling her that they lived together might not be such a good idea at the moment. Having her live with Yoh and Anna was definitely safer.

"So are you going to read me more of the story?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes," he said amazed that he could resist the urge to kiss when she looked so perfect.

"No where were we? Oh yes…"

_Umi quickly prepared herself to fight Yoh and his friends for Hao. All the while she was desperately hoping that if she won Hao would notice her a little more. Of course she was totally clueless to how much he really did notice her._

_Finally she was ready and she slipped away silently. She spent about half an hour looking for Yoh's group. Finally she found them resting in a nearby canyon._

"_They don't look so tough now do they, Sen?" she asked her guardian ghost._

_Sen was a Japanese samurai from 600 years ago who had disguised herself as a servant girl during the day while beating up the Lord's samurai's at night. She had died while seeking revenge on said Lord for reasons unknown to Umi. In life Sen had been a tall girl with black hair and stunning green eyes and she looked pretty much the same now except for scar just below her eye that she had gained in death._

"_I bet we can take them out very easily, Umi-dono," the female samurai agreed._

"_No challenge at all," Umi said confidently. _

"_Will you shut up!" an angry voice yelled from below._

"_Oh look at the weak little shamen. So weak that they fight each other instead of other teams because they know that any other team of idiots could easily kick their asses," Umi jeered revealing her self at the top of the canyon wall._

"_Oh and I suppose that you're that much stronger?" retorted the angry boy. Upon further inspection she saw that he had dark purple hair styled in a spike and golden eyes. He was wearing a sleeveless red belly shirt and baggy Chinese style pants. He was probably the best looking guy she'd ever seen aside from Hao._

Cute but not worth my time_, she decided._

"_Who are you?" Asakura Yoh asked before Umi could think of a comeback._

"_Well I don't see that it's any of your business but my name is Umi and I'm here to destroy your pathetic friends for Hao-sama," she said quickly engaging her oversoul._

"_Not again!" another member of the group whined. This one had an afro and was wearing a weird skirt like thing._

"_First sign of a weakling is an unwillingness to fight," she taunted before lunging at them._

_They were doing pretty well but she was definitely winning. Then in the middle of the battle another member of the group stumbled into the canyon. He had blue spiky hair the exact same color as Umi, and his features were very similar to hers. She took one look at him and froze in shock. She had never seen someone who looked so much like her before._

_In the second that she stood there in shock the spiky purple haired boy attacked with such force that she was sent flying and she heard a foul sounding crack echo from her leg. She could tell that it was broken._

_She expected them to just walk away and leave her there but to her surprise the spiky haired boy had hit her started to walk towards her._

"Hey Umi!" Horo-Horo said coming into his sister's room, "Ready to go?"

"Yes, Ren-kun was just reading me a story," she told her brother smiling.

"Here you can continue it on your own," Ren said holding out the book for her.

"No, I like it when you read it to me," she told him.

"Then I'll continue to read it to you."

"Thank you, Ren-kun," she said. The she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Is there something going on between you and Ren that I should know about sis?" Horo-Horo asked his sister a minute later as they walked away from her room.

"No, I don't even know why I did that," she said referring to the kiss.

_Even when she can't remember him her feelings are still there_, Horo-Horo thought amazed. He only hoped he could find a love that strong someday. Hopefully with a certain pink haired tenant of Yoh and Anna's.

Meanwhile back in her room Ren was standing by her bed blushing from the kiss.

"That was how we met," he muttered to the empty room, "That was the day I started to fall in love with you."


	6. Chapter 5: Almost Nothing

Mai: Sorry that I haven't updated in a while. Sometimes the inspiration fairy is with you and sometimes it isn't if you know what I mean. Also to the people who read Unloved I'm sorry that it's taking so long to get the next chapter up. The inspiration fairy just hasn't been kind enough to give me more ideas for that one.

January 31, 2008: Ok so here's my revision of this chapter. Again not much I can do to it but I think the little that I can do to fix it up really makes it stronger. Oh and by the way the inspiration fairy quit on me several years ago and was replaced by my plot bunny. Plot bunny and I have a similarly difficult relationship but we are working through it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King. I do own the first three Fushigi Yûgi manga. I am now obsessed with Fushigi Yûgi! I love it! And when I take over the world (or get fairy godparents which ever one comes first) I will not only take control of Shaman King but I will also demand all the Fushigi Yûgi manga and episodes on dvd. Nuriko you are my absolute favorite character so far! Sorry about that I'm just obsessed don't mind me.

Chapter 5: Now I'm almost nothing

"You're Tamao, right?" Umi asked. It was her second morning living in the Funbari Inn. She was standing in the kitchen talking to a short pink haired woman with red eyes.

"You remember me?" the pink haired girl asked shocked.

"No, my brother just won't shut up about you so I recognized you from his descriptions," she told Tamao.

"Really? Your brother talks about me that much?" she asked blushing.

"Yup. When he's not worrying about me or talking about food you're all he can talk about."

"Umi!" she heard Ren call from around the corner.

"In here Ren-kun!" Umi shouted back.

"Oh there you are," he said walking into the kitchen. "Good morning, Tamao."

"Good morning, Ren-san," Tamao responded.

"I was wondering if you would like me to read to you some more of the book to you," Ren asked turning his attention back to his oblivious fiancée.

"Yes I would love it," Umi replied happily.

"Ok, I've got it right here," he said smiling.

_I like it when he smiles_, Umi thought to herself as she smiled back at him.

"Can I listen too?" Tamao asked intrigued. Horo-Horo had told her about what Ren was doing and she was interested to know more about it herself.

"Sure," Ren said.

"Thank you," the pink haired girl responded taking a seat next to Umi.

_Umi tried not to let on that she knew that the purple haired boy was approaching as she tried and failed to get to her feet._

"_Shit," she muttered falling on her ass for the third time._

"_You'll only hurt yourself more that way," the boy commented watching amazed at her futile persistence._

"_Shut up!" she snapped. "Why are you still here?"_

"_I thought you might need some help," he offered his outstretched hand to her. Umi looked at it for two seconds before slapping it away._

"_I don't need any help from my enemies."_

"_I must be spending too much time with that damn Asakura," the boy muttered. "I can't believe I'm saying this but I could be your friend if you let me."_

"_Hell no! I have real friends and if you'd just leave me alone I'm sure they'd come and help me out."_

"_Well why don't they come now if they're such great friends?" Up until then all of his taunts hadn't hurt one bit but this one stung. How dare he suggest that her friends didn't care about her?_

"_You'd attack them," she said in a desperate attempt to get on the winning side of this argument. "It's hard to fight and take care of injured people you know."_

"_Just face it I'm not leaving so you're going to need my help," he said smirking._

"_No way."_

_Umi crawled over to a rock that was just about two feet shorter than she was. She pulled herself to her feet using the rock and started using it to hobble along. Apparently though even this was too much for her because a minute later she fainted._

_When she came to it was dark out. She was lying on a red sleeping bag by a roaring fire. She sat up rubbing her aching head. _

"_Where am I? What happened?" she groaned._

"_Well you strained yourself too much so you passed out and I took you back to our campsite," a familiar voice answered her. She turned around to see the purple haired boy standing there smirking at her. "What no thank you for not leaving you out there? How about for bandaging your leg?"_

"_I'm sorry I don't seem to recall asking for your help," she snapped back._

"_Would you prefer being left alone out in the scorching hot desert with a badly sprained where you could have died of dehydration?" he asked sarcastically._

"_If you had left me alone than Hao-sama could have come and helped me in peace," she told him angrily. "Besides I'm a shaman my ankle will be fine in a matter of days."_

"_Well why would it matter if I was there if Hao is so powerful?"_

"_Hao-sama would send Opachao or the Hanagumi to get me. Opachao doesn't like fighting and the Hanagumi are only supposed to fight people when Hao tells them to so they'd be way to tempted to kill you," she told him defensively._

"_Well I guess there's nothing you can do but stay with us until your boyfriend comes to get you."_

"_He's not my boyfriend," she said quietly but it was just loud enough that the boy could hear it along with the note of longing deeply imbedded in it._

"_You should get some sleep," the boy suggested in what seemed like a relatively nice tone of voice. This shocked Umi, until just then she had assumed that he didn't like her so therefore she would never hear something he said directed at her with even a hint of kindness in it._

"_Yeah, I probably should," she agreed surprising herself. Normally she would have snapped back at him that she was perfectly fine or bring up the fact that she just woke up, but something about that nice tone seemed to temporarily banish all the sarcastic remarks she had in her._

'_Good night then,' he said trying not to give away how surprised he was that she didn't protest at all. In Umi's opinion he did a pretty good job of it except she knew that most likely he had expected a sarcastic remark._

_She ignored this and just laid back down and closed her eyes. As she slept she had no idea that the boy was still awake trying to figure out why in the world his heart was beating so fast._

_She dreamed about Hao proposing to her as usual but for some reason in this dream she seemed to hesitate about accepting the offer instead of her usual joyful acceptance._

"_I wonder who she is?" someone wondered aloud as she felt herself wake up. Then she opened her eyes to see someone staring at her._

"No don't stop!" Umi protested when it became clear that he had come to a stopping point.

"Sorry Umi but I have to go soon and I thought I'd leave you with a nice little cliffhanger," Ren teased her.

"Ok Ren-kun I understand. Promise me you'll come back and read me some more later," she requested in that longing tone of voice the he couldn't seem to resist.

"Ok, I promise I'll come back later," he said smiling. "See you later Umi."

"Bye!" she said cheerfully.

_I hope she remembers soon_, he thought longingly. _I used to be one of the most important people in her life. But now I'm almost nothing and I can't stand it._


	7. Chapter 6: A Ghostly Encounter

Mai: So today I was reading Shaman King and suddenly this chapter came to me. I just saw Ren and I thought 'I should work on Do you Remember Me.' Anyway then I just sat down and wrote whatever came into my head. So I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King…yet. When I finally do own Shaman King there will be a new season with new enemies and new couples. Also a certain blond X-law member will be ending up dead or at least in prison.

Chapter 6: A Ghostly Encounter

"I'm just going to take a quick nap, Tamao-chan!" Umi called back as she exited the kitchen.

"Ok, Umi-chan I'll clean up," Tamao told the blue-haired girl.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it!" Umi called from half way down the hall. When she got in her room she threw herself down on her bed and sighed. She had this killer headache that she just couldn't seem to get rid of. So she thought she's try sleeping it off.

_Dream_

"_Good morning love," someone whispered in Umi's ear. _

"_Five more minutes," she muttered sleepily to the voice. Something about that voice seemed so familiar if only she could remember where she had heard it before._

"_You've had your five more minutes already now it's time to get up and greet the day," the voice chuckling. _

"_And if I refuse?" she found herself saying playfully. She was lost in the dream too entranced to notice that it wasn't real._

"_Well then I'll just have to punish you," the voice said. A second later she felt someone start to tickle her. _

"_Alright! Alright! I'm up!" she said through squeals of laughter. Then the tickling stopped as she sat up and took in her surroundings. She was in the bedroom of a strangely familiar apartment._

"_Finally sleeping beauty awakes," the voice said teasingly while it's owner rapped his arms around Umi from behind. "It's another beautiful day, what do you want to do?"_

"_How about we start with breakfast and see where we go from there," Umi told the voice. _

"_Alright," the voice said. Then he spun her around to face him before kissing her. She kissed back with obvious sincerity. Although she had no idea what was going on or why she was saying and doing the things she was one fact pentrated her mind as she kissed this man: she loved him and he loved her._

_Then they broke away and she opened her eyes to receive a shock. The man was Ren._

_End Dream_

Umi opened her eyes from her dream. Someone was floating over her bed. No, that wasn't right. She blinked thinking it was just her mind playing tricks but the floating woman was still there. The sight of this woman drove the dream clear out of Umi's mind.

She just stared at the woman for a moment before realizing that not only was this woman floating above her, she was also transparent and her feet were sort of faded out.

"What are you?" Umi asked surprisingly calm.

"Oh shit! Um you're dreaming," the woman tried feebly.

Umi pinched herself. "Ouch! No I'm not!" she told the transparent woman. She noticed that the woman was looking nervous.

"Ok well maybe, Yoh or Ren should explain this. YOH! REN!" the woman yelled. A sound of crashing plates could be heard form somewhere around the kitchen. Two seconds later Ren and Yoh burst into the room.

"What happened?" Ren asked alert. "Sen you were supposed to stay out of sight!" Ren said seeing the woman floating near Umi's bed.

"I guess now we have to explain this," Yoh said sweatdroping. "You see Umi you're a shaman and uh Sen here is your guardian ghost."

"We wanted to wait to tell you this to avoid putting too much stress on your mind. We're pretty much all shaman here. Well Manta and Pirika aren't but everyone else is and Manta and Pirika can see ghosts so we're pretty much all on the same page now," Ren told Umi gently.

"I just have one question. How did you manage to hide all the ghosts from me?" Umi asked confused.

"Well we instructed all the ghosts to remain invisible but now that you've seen Sen there's really no point," Yoh said. "You can come out now Amidamaru! Bason!" An old samurai appeared over Yoh's shoulder and a Chinese warlord appeared over Ren's shoulder. "This is Amidamaru," Yoh said pointing at the samurai.

"And this is Bason," Ren said pointing to the Chinese warlord.

"Why don't we leave you two to catch up," Yoh suggested pulling Ren out of the room.

"So, they said you're name is Sen right?" Umi asked conversationally.

"Well Senko actually but my friends call me Sen," the ghost woman told her amnesia stricken shaman. "I was alive about 600 years ago." Umi and Sen spent the rest of the day talking about pretty much everything.

"Oh well it's nice to meet you again."


	8. Chapter 7: Little Secrets

Mai: Hey it's me again! I think I might be on a role here. This is the second time I've updated one of my stories in the last two days. I guess boredom does that to people. With no schoolwork I fall back on my beloved fanfictions for entertainment. Anyway I think this chapter went pretty well especially since I had a couple of preplanned events to build this chapter on.

Disclaimer: If you own a copy of the Shaman King manga I want you to look at it. Does it say my name on the cover? No, it says Hiroyuki Takei on it therefore I do not own it no matter how much I wish I did. Now that we've cleared that up please enjoy this chapter of Do you remember me?

Chapter 7: Little Secrets

"Hey Umi," Pirika Usui said poking her head into her sister's room.

"Oh hello Pirika," Umi said cheerfully. "What's up?"

"Chocolove asked me out!" the girl said happily jumping on the bed beside her sister.

"Oh that's great. When are you guys going out?" Umi asked. She really did wish that she could remember more about this guy. She wanted to be able to better judge her little sister's date.

"Next week. Anyway I brought you some of your personal stuff. To help jog your memory a bit." Pirika reached into her bag and took out a jewelry box, an ipod, and a sketchbook.

"Thanks," Umi said picking up the jewelry box and opening it. She picked up a blue stone necklace. She played with it a bit. It seemed familiar to her somehow. "This means something," she muttered looking at it as it caught the light, "I know it does."

"Yeah that was your favorite necklace 'cause Ren gave it to you for your…" Pirika trailed off realizing that she wasn't supposed to be giving out that kind of info until Umi was able to handle it.

"Ren-kun is a good friend. I just get the feeling that there's more to the story. I always feel like I'm missing something," Umi said clutching her head. She was getting a headache again.

"Oh speaking of Ren-kun, he wanted me to give this to you," Pirika said reaching in her bag and taking out the book that Ren had been reading to Umi. "He says that he might not be able to come and visit you as soon as he wants to. His family is having some kind of crisis so he had to fly back to China on last minute notice to help them out."

"Oh ok," Umi said. She felt pretty sad at the thought of Ren going away. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

"No, I don't, I doubt he even knows when he'll be back," Pirika said. "You seem interested is there something going on between you and Ren?" This made Umi blush and shake her head. Umi thought she saw her sister's cheerful face show a flicker of sadness for a second but she blinked and it was gone. Had she imagined it? Or was there supposed to be something going on between her and Ren. She just sighed and picked up the book.

_(Umi reading the book)_

"_I wonder who she is?" a voice said near her as she felt herself wake up. Then she opened her eyes to see someone staring at her. It was the blue haired boy who looked like her. _

"_Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to stare?" she asked sarcastically as she sat up and took a good look at the boy. _

"_Sorry," the boy said, "it's just that there's a major resemblance between us. You said your name was Umi, right?" _

"_Yes my name is Umi and I guess there is some sort of resemblance between us," she said casually. _

"_We could almost be twins," the boy pointed out. _

"_How old are you?" she asked._

"_I'm fourteen, why?" he answered. _

"_Even if we are related you can't be my twin because I'm fifteen. Plus I don't have parents, I'm an orphan. Besides there is no way in hell that I'm related to an idiot like you." _

"_HEY! I'M NOT AN IDIOT!" The boy yelled angrily. _

"_Well you certainly don't take insults well," Umi said coolly. This turned into a full-blown argument with Horo-Horo yelling really loudly and Umi just casually insulting him. _

"_Well you two certainly fight like family," the spiky haired guy remarked a while later as he approached the two with a tray of food in his hands. He set it down beside Umi. "By the way I'm Ren and this idiot is Horo-Horo."_

"_There is no way in hell that I am related to someone named Horo-Horo!" Umi exclaimed._

"_Gee that makes me feel so loved," Horo said sarcastically. _

"_Oh shut up everyone hates a whiny guy," she snapped._

"_And I thought me and my sister were bad," Ren muttered as he walked away from the two of them while they were deep in the heat of argument._

_A couple of days passed and Umi got better quickly. She was almost able to travel on her own again when Hao came for her. _

_When he walked into their camp everyone raised their weapons defensively. _

"_Easy," he said, "for once I come in peace. I just want to take Umi and go."_

"_Why should we hand her over?" Horo challenged. Over the past few days he had pretty much decided that they had to be related because fighting just came so naturally to them. Plus her love of training was very much like his little sister Pirika's. _

"_Well because if you don't I'm afraid I may have to get violent with you," he said calmly. "She is my follower and I would like her back."_

"_Well if she's that important to you why didn't you come to get her sooner?" Yoh asked._

"_Well I couldn't find her. I didn't know she was with you," Hao answered his little brother. "By the way how are you, **little brother**?"_

"_Ren's helping Umi get back on her feet they should be back in a few minutes," Yoh said ignoring his brother's question._

"_I can wait," Hao said grinning. A few minutes later Umi stumbled back into the campsite leaning on Ren slightly and glaring over her shoulder. _

"_HAO!" she exclaimed happily at the sight of her beloved. "Are you here to take me back?" _

_Behind her Ren noticed that he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when he thought of Umi leaving. But surely he wanted her gone, didn't he? It was best to get rid of Hao's spy, wasn't it? And why did he feel sick when he saw the way she was looking at Hao._

"_Yes I am," Hao told Umi shattering Ren's thoughts. Ren glared at Hao harder for some reason. "And when we get back to camp I have something important to ask you."_

"_I can't wait," Umi said smiling. "Thanks for the hospitality you guys but you should know that changes nothing. Next time we meet we're enemies again."_

"_Fine if that's what you want Umi," Horo-Horo said his tone ice cold._

"_Bye," was all Umi said before disappearing with Hao in a pillar of fire. _

"_I almost thought she was one of us," Horo-Horo said disappointed. _

"_Yeah me too," Ren muttered scowling. Why couldn't he get her out of his head?_

Umi closed the book. She just noticed that the characters in the book were almost exactly like the people in her life only younger. Was this book supposed to be sending some kind of message to her brain?


	9. Chapter 8: Less Then Perfect

Mai: Hey I haven't updated this in a real long time but I think I made up for it with an especially long chapter that is the best chapter yet in my opinion. Anyway instead of random rambling on about whatever I feel like today I have decided to write a dedicated one-shot to who ever can tell me what little brother is in Japenese. However there are some rules about what you request.

It has to be a couple from, Naruto, Shaman King, or Yu-Gi-Oh.

No yaoi, yuri, or incest requests because I don't write those and I never will so don't even ask.

No KakashiXSakura because he is fourteen years older then her and her teacher so it's a little bit weird plus I do not like the coupling.

Please no NeijiXTenten because while I enjoy the couple I don't have a clue how to write one of those because I really don't know enough about Neiji and Tenten's personailities yet.

That's about it for rules so please help me out if you know! Thank you !

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King or the song Sand in my Shoes by Dido and I won't until I take over the world and take Shaman King as my own! Anyway on with the story!

Chapter 8: Less than Perfect

Dream

_She was lying on a bed in the room from the first. She had a book in her lap and she was attempting to read it but her thoughts kept slipping from what was written on the page the other inhabitant of the room. _

_He should be home soon she found herself thinking. She smiled thinking about him again. She couldn't quite grasp who it was she was expecting but she knew that he was special. _

_She gave up on the book and decided to listen to some music. She flipped through the songs in her ipod until she found the one she wanted to hear and pressed play._

_Two weeks away feels like the whole world should have changed _

_But I'm home now, and things still look the same _

_I think I'll leave it till tomorrow to unpack, _

_Try to forget for one more night _

_That I'm back in my flat _

_On the road where the cars never stop going through the night _

_To a life where I can't watch the sun set, _

_I don't have time, _

_I don't have time _

_I've still got sand in my shoes _

_And I can't shake the thought of you _

_I should get on, forget you _

_But why would I want to _

_I know we said goodbye, _

_Anything else would have been confused _

_But I want to see you again_

_Tomorrow's back to work and down to sanity _

_Should run a bath and then clear up the mess I made before I left here _

_Try to remind myself that I was happy _

_Before I knew that I could get _

_On a plane and fly away _

_From the road where the cars never stop going through the night _

_To a life where I can watch the sun set _

_And take my time, _

_Take all our time _

_Two weeks away, all it takes, _

_To change and turn me around I've fallen _

_I walked away, and never said, _

_That I wanted to see you again _

_I've still got sand in my shoes _

_And I can't shake the thought of you _

_I should get on, forget you _

_But why would I want to _

_I know we said goodbye, _

_Anything else would have been confused _

_But I want to see you again_

_The song ended and she was about to select another one when she felt someone sit down next to her on the bed. She turned to look at him and smiled._

"_I'm home," he said smiling back._

"_I can see that," she giggled. _

"_Well don't I get a hello kiss or something?" he asked._

"_Well alright," she told him in mock reluctance. Then he smirked and leaned in for a kiss. She wasn't sure how long they were kissing but when they finally broke apart she was smiling. She laid her head down on his shoulder and just enjoyed the moment. "Promise me, you won't leave me alone for that long again."_

"_Of course next time I'll take you with me," he said._

"_Promise?" she pleaded._

"_Promise," he repeated._

"_Good because I missed you way too much," she sighed and nestled closer to him. He started to kiss her again just as the dream began to fade. _

End of Dream

Umi sat up in bed blushing. This was the fifth dream about this guy that she had had this week. Somehow she could never quite remember his face and his voice just sort of mixed into the rest of her memory until it was undistinguishable.

She had also started to notice that she always got a killer headache right before she had one of these dreams. But they were so wonderful.

"Are you ok, Umi-dono?" Sen asked popping out of nowhere. It had taken a while for Umi to get used to this habit of Sen's but after a week of hanging out with the dead samurai it was becoming second nature.

"It was nothing just another one of those dreams," Umi muttered rubbing her head. She had pretty much figured out that these dreams were her memories and that was why they felt so real but why did she only get visions of this guy. It must be her fiancé but why only him, why not show her the rest of her friends and family as well. She shook her head no closer to any answers then before.

She sighed and reached for the book hoping it would give her answers. She hadn't read anything in a few days so it took her a few minutes to find her place.

_Umi reading the book_

"_I was beginning to worry that you'd never come and get me," Umi said when they arrived back at the campsite._

"_I couldn't find you. I knew my little brother was stupid and trusting but I would never have thought that he'd be stupid enough to invite a known enemy into his group no matter how badly injured. But then again he does trust that Tao boy," he said. _

"_You said you wanted to ask me something," she said holding her breath. What if he knew about her feelings for him?_

"_Ah yes. Well now's not really the right time. Tomorrow morning after breakfast let's go for a walk and then I'll tell you," he said hoping that he wasn't blushing even a bit._

"_I can't wait," she smiled at him. He turned to go before he heard her say, "Um, Hao."_

"_Yes," he said his heart beating quickly. _

"_Could you help me back to my tent I'm not quite strong enough to walk that far by myself yet," she said embarrassed. _

"_S-sure," he said a small anime sweat drop appearing on the back of his head. _

"_Thank you, Hao-sama," she said once he had helped to her door._

"_No problem, Umi-chan," he replied._

"_Goodnight," she said kissing him on the cheek before hobbling inside. Hao blushed a deep shade of crimson. He was thankful that no one could see him; it would totally shatter his image. _

_The next morning Umi woke up feeling well rested but slightly uneasy. _

_For some reason Tao Ren had occupied her dreams. He had told her that he loved her and Hao had jumped out of nowhere and the two started to fight. In the end Hao cornered Ren and had moved to kill him when she cried out and woke up._

'_It was just a dream,' she told herself. 'I don't really care about him at all. So he helped me for a few days while I was weak. It doesn't mean anything.'_

'_**Then why dwell on it?**' a voice in her head asked. _

'_I'm not dwelling on it. I love Hao-sama,' she told that voice stubbornly. _

'_**Love him. Or should still love him?**' the voice asked. _

'_I DO love him. I have ever since I was a small child!' she argued._

'_**Then why am I here? Why are you even indulging in this conversation?**'_

_She couldn't answer that so she remained mentally silent. _

'_**I thought so,**' the voice replied smugly. '**Your heart falters.**'_

'_Shut up!' she snapped at the voice._

'_**Fine but I'll be back later.**'_

_Umi sighed relieved to have rid herself of that troublesome voice. Then she got dressed and exited her tent. _

"_Umi you're back!" Macchi exclaimed when she saw her. This caused Mari and Kanna to turn their heads and both Mari and Macchi to tackle her to the ground with the force of their hugs while Kanna stood watching her eye twitching and a large anime sweat drop on the back of her head._

"_Mari missed Umi, soooooooo much!" Mari exclaimed happily._

"_Me too!" Macchi shouted joyfully._

"_Mari! Macchi! The poor girl can't breath! Get off of her!" Kanna shouted when she noticed that Umi was having trouble breathing. _

"_Sorry, Umi-chan!" Macchi said as she and Mari released the choking girl. _

"_Thanks, Kanna," Umi gasped. _

"_No problem," the bluenette said before taking out and lighting her usual cigarette._

"_Umi!" Hao's voice called across the campsite. She turned around smiling to see him rushing towards her. _

"_Good morning, Hao," she said cheerfully. _

"_You're walking normally again," he stated slightly surprised. _

"_Oh yeah I am. I hadn't noticed," she said as Hao did an anime fall. "Anyway weren't you going to ask me something now?"_

"_Oh yeah. After breakfast you're probably starving," he said. _

"_I sure as hell am!" she replied._

_After breakfast Umi and Hao took a walk outside the campsite. _

"_You going to tell me what you want to ask me now or what?" Umi asked impatiently. He paused for a moment and almost swore that she saw his left hand twitch a little inside his pants pocket. _

"_Alright," he smiled. "I'm not quite sure how to say this so here it goes. Umi I-I ever since I found you we've been good friends, right?"_

"_Yeah," se said then noticing that he was hesitating she added, "go, on."_

"_Well somewhere along the way I think I started to want to be more than just friends. It seems like I've always wanted to ask you this but it's a big step and I was afraid that it would ruin our relationship. But the Hanagumi convinced me that with my victory in the Shaman Tournament approaching so fast that now would be the perfect time. Do you get what I'm saying?" he asked hopefully._

_Her heart was beating fast now. "Oh my god," she whispered._

"_Will you marry me and become my shaman queen after I win the tournament?" he asked getting down on one knee and taking out a ring box. _

"_I-I…yes!" she exclaimed getting over her moment of hesitation. "Hao-kun I feel the exact same way! But I thought that I was just a lowly follower and I could never be enough for you."_

_He got up and kissed her passionately. "Umi-chan even if you were only a follower you could never be a 'lowly' one, you've been with me way too long."_

_She smiled. "So are you going to help me with that or do I have to put it on myself?" she asked gesturing towards the ring. _

"_Of course, my lady, how inconsiderate of me!" he exclaimed making her giggle as he slid the ring onto her finger. Then he kissed her again._

"_I love you," she whispered when he broke away. _

"_I'm glad 'cause guess what I love you back," he said before kissing her again. Somehow though this scene that had always been the center of her dreams felt somewhat incomplete like something had changed or gone missing and she couldn't figure out what it was._

Umi shut the book her heart pounding. Could this 'Hao' be her fiancée? He had said that he was Yoh's brother in the story but she had never heard Yoh mention any brother before and if she truly loved this Hao guy why did the Umi in the book seem hesitant?

"It seems that every time I read this book things just get more and more confusing," she muttered to herself before closing her eyes


	10. Chapter 9: Usui

Mai: Hey! Man it's been a longtime since I updated! I really like this chapter I feel I got a lot done. Oh I apologize for the scene where Hao talks to Yoh. I remember seeing that show on the dub (may the people who dubbed it burn in hell) but I can't remember the conversation to well so I just rewrote it my way. Also I'd like to make a note about the age of everyone in the book (a.k.a. during the turnament). Ren and Umi are 15, Horo-Horo Yoh Hao Anna are 14, and Pirika is 12. Anyway on with the show!

Disclaimer: Look I don't own Shaman King! If I did things would be very different. For example there'd be a lot more romance, the X-laws would be weak and pathetic ('cause I hate religious freaks) and it'd be all Marco's fault.

Chapter 9: Usui

"Umi-chan!" Tamao called up the stairs the next evening. "Ren-san's on the phone and he wants to talk to you!"

Umi bolted up excited at the thought of talking to her friend. She ran into the hall and snatched the upstairs phone off the hook hastily and accidentally dropped it.

"Hello," she said grabbing the phone off the hook.

"Umi?" Ren's voiced echoed through the phone.

"Hi, Ren-kun."

"How are you?" he asked tentatively.

"I'm fine," she answered.

"Remember anything?" he asked holding his breath.

"Well I keep having these dreams about me and this guy. I assume he's my fiancé. We're always talking to each other and kissing each other. And we're in this strange bedroom that seems oddly familiar to me. But I can never remember his face or voice once the dream ends."

"Well maybe that's how your memories are returning. They'll probably come slowly and slightly faded out until something really big triggers more of them. That's what the doctor told me usually happens with patients like you," he said.

"I've been reading some more of that book you gave me," she told him.

"Oh good. Do you like it so far?"

"Yeah. Did the stuff in this book really happen? Because all the characters are exactly like real people that I know. Well I haven't met Hao or any of the people mentioned as his followers but everyone else is real enough."

"They're real," he said quietly.

"It's starting confuse me though. I just read the part where Hao proposed. I'm confused though, the me in the book seems to love Hao but she also seems hesitant. I think that she likes the you in the book too, and I'm confused about who I'm really engaged to," she told him.

"You'll find out soon enough," he said mysteriously.

She sighed knowing that she wouldn't get anything more out of him. "When are you coming back?" she asked.

"Oh yeah that's what I called to tell you. I'm coming home tonight. I'll be here by the time you wake up. I'm taking my private jet so it's a bit quicker then a normal airline flight."

"Great! I can't wait to see you, Ren-kun!" Umi exclaimed happily.

"Me neither. I have to go now. See you later, Umi-chan," he said.

"Bye, Ren-kun," she told him happily. Then she heard a click signaling that he had hung up. "I can't wait to see him again," she sighed.

She looked over at her bedside table where she had left the book the night before. After talking to Ren she seemed to find herself drawn to the book. She needed to read more.

_The next two weeks were like a dream for Umi. Everyone was so happy for her and Hao. The Hanagumi had declared themselves the official bridesmaids and Umi felt no desire to argue. It took a while to get everyone (aside from the Hanagumi who knew her too well to even think about it) to stop calling her Umi-sama. But even though she felt happier then she had in her entire life she couldn't escape the nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right._

"_We're going to enter Patch Village after we ensure that my idiot brother enters as well. You know, Umi-chan, what with the end of the tournament coming up so soon, we should probably think about the wedding," Hao said one night while they were sitting in his tent._

"_Yeah we probably should," she muttered. "I always imagined us getting married on top of a hill. You know out in nature and everything."_

"_So you did imagine us getting married then?" he teased. "Why didn't you say anything? We could've done this a lot sooner."_

"_Well I didn't know how you felt. In my defense you should've said something too. I was scared that you'd reject me," she told him defensively. _

"_Now why would I do that?" he whispered in her ear._

"_You can have any woman you want. Why would you want plain old me?" _

"_Actually there is another girl I considered. I doubt you know her. She's about my height, long blue hair and blue eyes. She's strong and beautiful and I've known her since forever. I was completely crazy about her. But in the end I decided that I didn't have a chance so I gave up and asked you to marry me."_

"_You're awful you know that?" she asked laughing hysterically. _

"_Of course I am! Now about that hilltop idea, I like it. But not just any hill will do. We must find the biggest most beautiful hill ever known to man!" Hao exclaimed excitedly._

"_Ok, now you're scaring me," Umi said as she slowly edged away from her crazed fiancé._

"_Ok I'm sorry I just get so I excited when I think about our wedding. I want you to have anything you want. So that you have the happiest wedding possible and just enjoy marrying me to the fullest."_

"_Aw you're so sweet," she said as she leaned in to kiss him passionately. This simple kiss soon progressed into a long passionate make out session on Hao's cot. Normally Umi would have been overjoyed at the very thought of this but once again the nagging feeling that had come to pain her over the last few weeks returned. _

_She felt that something wasn't quite right. But how could something be out of place here? She was with Hao the guy she had loved since before she was old enough to really comprehend what love was._

_There wasn't anything wrong, she decided. She was just shocked by the suddenness of the engagement and how perfect everything was. Yeah, a startled surprised reaction to how sudden and fast things were progressing, that was exactly what it was. These thoughts were slightly annoying but they would go away with time as she got used to her new role in Hao's life because she loved Hao and nothing else mattered._

_At least that was what she told herself. In some small place in the back of her mind however she knew that that wasn't quite true. But the rest of her consciousness shut out that part of her mind._

_Two days later Yoh Asakura and his friends entered Patch Village (surprisingly for Hao and Umi he didn't need a push in the right direction). Hao moved him and his followers into the village as soon as he was sure that Yoh would make it._

_They were all camped just outside of the village. Everyone secretly wanted to stay in the village but unfortunately not even Hao (or even the super rich Ren Tao for that matter) could afford to put up such a huge group in one of the overpriced Patch hotels. Normally Hao would have threatened his way into free room and board but unfortunately there was a rule that anyone who harassed and/or threatened the Patch people for free stuff would automatically get disqualified. _

"_Ok the camp has been all set up right?" Hao asked Opacho._

"_Hai, Hao-sama, all the tents have been successfully put up," the small African child told Hao._

"_Good. It's been about a day and a half my brother should be waking up by now. I say it's time we go confront him," Hao said with an evil grin. "I want Umi, Opacho, the Hanagumi, and Luca to accompany me. The rest of you stay here and try to keep out of trouble."_

"_Hai, Hao-sama!" the whole camp said in unison. Hao then nodded at the group and they all followed him. _

_An hour later they located Yoh and friends at a small overpriced Patch Café. They only took a few seconds to notice Hao's presence (much to the surprise of a few members of the group)._

"_You!" Ren and Horo-Horo yelled in unison jumping to his feet and reaching for his collapsible Kwan Dao. Umi knew that he probably meant Hao she couldn't help but feel that it was slightly directed at her too. More surprising though was the slight pain of regret that she felt at hearing the tone of hatred in their voices._

"_What are you doing here?" Yoh asked calmly although Umi noticed that his hand was tensely clasped around his sword._

"_We just came to talk so you can relax," Umi said airily. _

"_Oh really," Ren growled, "Why do I find that so hard to believe?"_

_Umi ignored him. "I haven't properly introduced myself to you yet," she said smiling. "My name is Usui Umi recently engaged to the future Shaman King, Asakura Hao." They were all speechless the exact effect that Umi had wanted._

"_Y-You're gonna marry this psycho, Umi?" Horo-Horo asked disbelievingly. _

"_If you talk about my fiancé that way again you're dead!" Umi growled at the stupid Ainu._

"_That's enough, Umi. It doesn't matter what the trash thinks of me. Yoh's the only one in the group that's even worth acknowledging," Hao said smirking. "By the way my dear brother, I came to wish you luck in the upcoming tournament. You'll need it. Oh and if you want to stand even the tiniest chance against me you'll need to get stronger."_

_And with that Hao's group left leaving Yoh and his friends to stare after Hao and Umi._

"_She said her last name was Usui, right?" Horo asked wondering if he had misheard her._

"_Yes she did, didn't she," Ren said calmly._

"_Could there be some sort of family connection? I mean she said she was an orphan but still…" Horo-Horo trailed off thinking of what this could all mean._

Umi felt her eyes flutter tiredly. It was getting pretty late and yet she had to read more.

_Maybe I'll just rest my eyes for a second…_

It was four in the morning when Tao Ren gently entered Umi's room to see her fast asleep with the book lying open on her chest. He smiled as he gently put the book on her bedside table, and put a blanket over her. Then he kissed her on the forehead before turning off her light and leaving the room.


	11. Chapter 10: Engaged

Mai: Once again sorry for not updating in a while. My plot bunny seems to have left Shaman King. So as a result updating my Shaman King fic takes more time. I'm writing some Naruto fanfics that I'm really excited about. I'm not going to post them for a while so all you Naruto fans will have to wait a while. So anyway enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King. If I did I would make Hao fall in love with Jeanne just for fun. And then after a while I'd let her love him back. Right after she pushes Marco off a cliff. But until I own Shaman King that's not gonna happen.

Chapter 10: Engaged

Umi awoke the next morning at 9:30 to the sound of the birds chirping. She sat up and noticed that a blanket had been draped over her and the book was placed neatly on her bedside table.

_That's strange_, she thought. She didn't have much time to think about this though because two seconds later there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she called to the person out side the door. Her face lit up as the door opened to reveal Tao Ren.

"Ren-kun!" she cried leaping up to give him a huge hug and resting her head on his chest. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," he whispered. A memory jumped into his mind at that moment. He remembered coming back from his first business trip after he had proposed to her. He blushed remembering how she had kissed him passionately seconds after he had walked through the door without even so much of a hello.

She disentangled herself from him still beaming with happiness. "How was your trip?" she asked.

"Not as painful as usual," he told her.

"That's good." She was smiling just like she used to whenever he came back from a trip. He felt a pang of longing fill his chest. He missed her so much and not just because of the trip. He wanted her to remember so badly that every time he saw her he felt words rising up in his throat that he knew he must suppress for her own good. She had to finish the book before she could ever really understand what they had.

"Tamao-san sent me up here to see if you were awake. She also wanted me to tell you that she and Anna-san are going out now. Yoh's also gone for the day he's visiting his family in Izumo," Ren said trying to resist the urge to kiss her.

"What about Horo-Horo and Pirika?" she asked.

"Pirika-san is out on a date with that idiot Chocolove and your idiot brother is probably pigging out somewhere and hoping that your sister won't find him."

"I guess it's just the two of us then," she said cheerfully. "Hey I'm getting hungry you want to go get some breakfast?"

"Sure. Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"I don't know why don't you pick someplace familiar to me? It might bring back some memories."

"I know just the place," Ren said grinning.

An hour later Umi found herself seated at a small café table with Ren. She kept looking around trying to figure out why this place looked so familiar.

"You used to come here all time," Ren told her as if reading her mind. "Bring back any memories?"

"Sort of," she muttered. "I guess it's not really memories such as a strong sense of déjà vu."

"What'll you two have?" a smiling brown haired waitress asked the two a minute later.

Umi noticed Ren staring intently at her as she ordered her food. And when the waitress asked him what he wanted it almost seemed as if he snapped out of some kind of trance before he gave her his order.

"What?" Umi asked after the waitress left and Ren resumed staring at her.

"Nothing. Everything just seemed so normal for a minute there. I almost forgot that you're not completely yourself yet," he said sadly.

She blushed. It was so sweet the way he cared so much about her. She knew why. Ever since she had talked to him yesterday she had been thinking about him. Then she figured it out why he seemed to so desperate to make her remember.

He was her fiancé. He loved her and that was why he did anything he could to help her. She wanted to tell him that she knew but she couldn't, not yet. She wanted to be able to give him more then the empty shell she was now.

She also wanted to know how she had ended up with him. She knew that she was engaged to that Hao guy. She also knew that she had had feelings for Ren that she had been in denial about. But she wanted to know how she had ended things with Hao and fell in love with Ren.

Until she knew that she couldn't tell Ren that she knew about the engagement. She also wanted to give herself a chance to fall in love with him again.

After breakfast they decided to take a walk. The walk eventually led to the movie theaters. During the movie he put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. She was glad it was dark because he couldn't see her blushing furiously.

After the movie they had a late lunch before heading home. He walked her to her room and they ended up standing in front of the door talking for forty minutes.

"Wow, I can't believe we've been standing here for all that time," Umi exclaimed laughing when she looked down at her watch.

"I can. It used to happen all the time," he told her smiling. He stretched out his hand and brushed a lock of her hair out of her face. Then out of habit he started to stroke her cheek lovingly.

"Sorry," he said blushing as he quickly removed his hand.

"It's ok," she said. She leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips. Then she opened her door and went inside before he could say anything.

She stood there leaning against her door blushing with two fingers touching her lips. Then she moved to sit down on the bed.

_Well so much for waiting_, she thought. _I'll have to tell him that I know now. That kiss was way too good, and I'm definitely going to do it again. Somehow even though I can't remember much about being with him I really miss him._

She looked over at her bedside table where the book lay. It seemed to be calling to her. Begging her to open it. So she did.

"_Alright everyone, we have to divide ourselves into teams of three for the next round. Umi and Opacho will be on my team. The rest of you can pick your own teams," Hao told the camp. "So divide yourselves up then go register in the village. And please try not to fight about this too much."_

_The large group quickly organized themselves into smaller groups and headed off to register themselves. Opacho headed off to practice so she wouldn't make the rest of her team look bad._

"_So, what do you want to do now?" Umi asked._

_Hao smirked obviously pleased with himself. "I'm glad you asked. We are going on a date!" he announced happily. _

"_You planned this didn't you?" Umi asked. _

"_Pretty much," he said. "Kanna insisted that I take you out before all the fighting starts up and we have less time together. Now where would you like to go?"_

"_How about we go to a movie?" Umi suggested._

"_As you wish, my love," he said offering his arm to the blue haired girl. _

_As they walked into the village she couldn't help but feel insanely proud of herself. She had managed to win over this wonderful sweet sexy guy. He was perfect and absolutely nothing was wrong. Or at least that's what she told herself in a desperate attempt to silence the part of herself that kept telling her that something was wrong._

_As they walked to theater eyes followed them. People who knew Hao's identity were whispering about the two of them. They couldn't believe that the almighty Asakura Hao had enough of a heart to care about anyone let alone that he would walk down the street holding some girl's hand._

_Two hours later they left the theater still holding hands and looking extremely happy. Neither of them could tell you what the movie they saw was about because they had been making out through almost the entire thing._

_Hao's eyes flitted around scanning the confused faces that were staring at him and his fiancée. Then his eyes landed on a floor shop ten feet away._

"_Umi, wait here for a minute. I'll be right back," he said heading off in the direction of the flower shop. She smiled watching his back disappear into the doorway. _

_Thirty seconds later she noticed someone walking towards her. Her face fell; it was Ren. He looked angry and unhappy as usual but there was also a hint of firm determination in his gaze. _

_He walked right up to her, looked her in the eye, and said, "Don't trust him. He's lying to you." But before she could ask what he meant he was gone._

_It was obvious that by "him" Ren had meant Hao. But why would Hao need to lie to her? To make her think that he loved her so that she would marry him? No, that couldn't be it. There were much more powerful female shaman who would be happy to marry him and would be much more of an advantage to him. Love had to be the reason he was marrying her instead of one of them. But what could it be then?_

_Then she realized that Ren could be lying to her. It was no secret that their whole group hated Hao. What better way to mess with Hao then making his own fiancée doubt him. If she started to have second thoughts about the engagement then Hao would be distracted by their relationship problems. And if he was distracted might make mistakes that could cost him everything._

"_I never thought they'd sink that low," she muttered to herself. She was disgusted that she believed that dirty trick for even for second. _

"_You didn't think who'd sink that low?" Hao's voice said interrupting her self loathing. _

"_Oh it's nothing. Just one of Yoh's friends spreading lies about you."_

"_What did he say?" Hao asked concerned._

"_He told me that you're lying to me," she told him still feeling a little guilty about taking Ren seriously. _

_Hao's face remained calm as usual but Umi thought she saw just a flicker of fear in his eyes. She told herself that she was being stupid. Hao couldn't be worried about what had happened because it was a lie and he had nothing to lose. _

"_You know I would never lie to you," he said trying to sound confident. _

_Umi smiled at him and said, "Of course I do. I trust you. I love you." _

"_I love you too," Hao said handing Umi a bouquet of lilies._

"_Thank you, Hao," she said sniffing the beautiful flowers. She loved lilies, they were her favorite flower. And she was pleased that Hao remembered her favorite flower. It was times like these when she really remembered why she loved him, and why she was marrying him._

_As the two of them started to walk back to the camp Tao Ren sighed. So she didn't believe him after all. He didn't think she would but he had still wanted to try. Not that he would tell anyone else that he had tried. _

_He didn't want them to know that he was feeling sympathy for someone who had declared herself his enemy. Or that he had really wanted to see her again for some reason that he himself didn't understand._

A knock on the door pulled Umi's focus away from the book. "Who is it?" she asked.

"It's your brother," Horo-Horo's voice answered.

"Come in," she said. He opened the door and sat down next to her. "What's up?" she asked.

"You wanna come to dinner, with me and Pirika?" he asked.

"I'd love to," she told him smiling. "I'll meet you guys downstairs in ten minutes, ok?"

"Yeah," her brother nodded.

Ten minutes later the three of them gathered downstairs and headed out the door. As they were walking to the restaurant Horo said, "Oh I forgot to tell you. I invited Ren and his sister Jun. I hope that's ok?"

"Sure why wouldn't it be?" Umi said. She wanted to meet his sister again. She had decided that her goal from now on was to try to trigger memories by learning more about Ren. She just hoped things wouldn't be awkward because of the kiss.


	12. Chapter 11: Falling Back Into Love

Mai: So here's the newest chapter of Do You Remember Me? I really enjoyed writing this one. Not a lot happens but I thought I need a good fluff filled chapter. I mean these two really need to get going if I'm ever going to finish this. At this point this fic has the highest chance of getting finished out of all my fics. So I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Let's face I don't own Shaman King. It sucks I know. I'd do a good job with it but sadly I don't have the opportunity to convince the people who do own it of that. So until the day that I do I shall have to stick to writing fics, watching the anime, and reading the manga.

Chapter 11: Falling Back Into Love

"It's nice to see you again, Umi-san," the tall green haired girl said smiling. "How's your memory coming along?"

"Just bits and pieces at this point, Jun-san. Although that book your brother gave me is helping a lot."

"Well that's good. We need to get your memory back quickly we can't restart wedding plans until then," Jun said smiling. "Have you figured it out yet?"

"Yeah. I haven't told him that I know yet. I want to figure out what our relationship was like before I tell him," the bluenette replied.

"Well that's good. Don't keep him waiting too long, ok? He's getting pretty worried and I think it's breaking his heart a little," the older woman seemed nice. Umi was sure that they had been good friends before the accident.

"What are you girls talking about?" Ren demanded coming up behind them.

"Nothing, little brother," Jun told her brother innocently.

"Why do I think you're lying, nee-san?" Ren asked suspiciously.

"Stop being so paranoid," Jun said giggling. "Ren, why don't you and Umi go on ahead? I need to make a call."

"I get the feeling that you're not going to tell me anything either?" Ren asked.

"You're probably right," Umi said giggling. "Relax, we weren't saying anything bad about you."

"Oh so you were talking about me," he said smugly. "Thought so. Exactly what were you saying about me?"

"Already told you, nothing bad, and that's all you're getting out me," she told him winking.

"Oh really?" he said raising his eyebrows. "I bet I know a way to crack that resolve wide open."

"Hit me with your best shot," she said disbelievingly.

"Alright," he said softly as he stepped closer to her. He ran his fingers through her hair making her turn her head a little to stare straight into his eyes. He leaned in closer to her and whispered, "I've been thinking about that kiss before. And I liked it, a lot." Her heart rate sped up and she could feel herself beginning to blush.

He smirked. He knew that look. He also knew that if he didn't kiss her soon she wouldn't be able to think about anything else.

His hand started to stroke her cheek and his lips started to slowly creep towards hers. For the first time she felt she was beginning to truly connect and understand what their relationship had been like. She couldn't think of anything but him and the kiss that she now wanted so badly.

Her eyes fluttered closed and her heart started to beat even faster from excitement and anticipation. She eagerly waited the moment that their lips would connect. However it never came.

Ten seconds later she felt his hands release her. She opened her eyes and was extremely annoyed to see that he had backed off and was now smirking at her.

"Why didn't you kiss me?" she asked annoyed and disappointed.

"Tell me what you and nee-san were talking about and then I'll kiss you," he said still looking at her with that self satisfied smirk on his face.

"You're evil," Umi told him glaring. "Can't you just kiss me?"

"Not until you tell me what I want to know. Don't worry I'm sure you'll crack in a minute or two and once you do I'll kiss you all you want," he promised.

"No. I've decided that I won't let you get away with this. I'm not cracking," she told him resolutely.

"Then I'm not kissing you," he replied stubbornly. But he couldn't hide that look from her. She knew that watching her beg like this was a lot of fun for him. She grinned suddenly she had an idea. She knew exactly how to get what she wanted from him.

"Fine if you won't kiss me then I'll just have to kiss you," she said mischievously. Then before he could react she had wrapped her arms around his neck and her lips collided with his own.

For a minute Ren was surprised. He didn't think that she'd do something like this when she was this confused about her life. Then he relaxed and let his arms instinctively wrap themselves around her waist as he kissed her back.

This was exactly the response Umi was looking for. She pulled him closer deepening the kiss. His traced the edges of her lips begging to be let in. She happily opened up and let their tongues slide into each other's mouths.

"Hey!" Horo yelled when he glanced back at the two of them. "Get a room!" The two broke apart. Umi had a deep blush covering her face while Ren couldn't look more pleased with himself. He'd completely forgotten about her suspicious conversation with his sister.

Ren was really happy. That kiss had been the first time he felt like he had his fiancée back. She smiled at him still blushing. The feeling began to fade a little. She hadn't blushed at him like that in a long time.

Pirika and Jun smiled at the two of them. Jun winked and Pirika gave them a thumbs up. Meanwhile Horo-Horo looked like he was about to kill Ren for even thinking about touching his sister.

Ren shot his (hopefully) soon to be brother-in-law a look that said 'she's my fiancée it's not a big deal so back off or else'. Then he put an arm around her as the five of them all continued to walk towards the restaurant.

Dinner was really pleasant. Umi and Ren sat across the table from each other and continued to sneak looks at each other throughout the meal.

Their siblings noticed and couldn't be happier (even Horo was happy about it despite his newly resumed position of protective little brother). After they got home Umi hurried up to her room eager to read more of her story.

Umi felt that she needed to finish this book quickly. She needed to know what her life with Ren had been like before the accident. She knew that she was falling back into love with him. She just wanted to know how she had fallen in love the first time. So she excitedly opened the book and began to read.

"_Why can't you let me fight at least one of them?" Umi asked Hao after their third fight as "a team". So far he had just used Spirit of Fire crush all their opponents while Umi and Opacho just stood there not really doing anything. And it was getting pretty boring for Umi._

"_How am I supposed to get any practice if you just kill all the competition immediately? And what about the extensive training you gave me on the way over here? Is all that just going to go to waste?" she asked angrily. _

"_Look I just want to get this over with. None of these third rate shaman are worth two minutes of my time or yours. As for your training that was for after they break the teams up. Then I'll be counting on you to take out some of my competition for me," he replied calmly._

"_I know. I'm just so bored. I haven't gotten a chance to beat up anything more challenging then a training dummy in weeks," she complained. Hao was glad to see that despite the complaining she was calming down. _

"_Don't worry, love," he said. "You'll get to have your fun soon enough."_

"_Easy for you to say," she muttered still a little annoyed. "You're the one with infinite super powers. You don't feel the need to test them out."_

"_I'll make it up to you, I promise," he said smirking. _

"_Oh, I have no doubt of that," she said teasingly. "You'll be doing that for the rest of our lives."_

_He wrapped his arms around her waist. Then he kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear, "Gladly."_

_Umi felt the last traces of her anger ebb away. However once it was gone there wasn't really anything left. It was one of those times where she should have been completely happy yet she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong._

_It was so frustrating. She had loved Hao since she was a small child. Him loving her back, kissing her, wanting nothing more then to be near her. She should have been the happiest girl in the world. _

_But something inside her wouldn't let her sit back and enjoy her happiness. It was constantly telling her that something was wrong. And it was getting harder and harder to ignore._

"_Something wrong?" Hao asked feeling her tense up a little in his arms. _

"_No," she muttered trying her best to not betray her increasingly powerful doubts. "Why would there be? Everything's perfect." She wanted so badly to just be able to believe that. _

_Later that night she as she lay on the cot in her tent she found her mind wondering towards her encounter with Ren a week ago._

_She kept trying to tell herself that it was nothing. It was just a lie to make her doubt Hao. Yoh and his friends probably thought that causing relationship problems would distract Hao and make their job of defeating him easier._

_A part of her though kept arguing that they weren't like that. That part of her mind was screaming at her to accept that they might actually know something that she didn't._

_Umi wanted to tell that voice to shut up and go away. But she knew that it did have a point. Those guys took in a known enemy and nursed her while she was injured. Then when they could have used her for ransom or as some kind of bargaining chip they instead handed her back over to their arch nemesis no strings attached. Were they really the type of people to lie to her just to mess with Hao?_

_And if that was the case and they were telling the truth what could they possibly know? Was there anything in this world Hao would lie to her about?_

_She shook her head. She didn't want to doubt Hao. Before she had run into Ren it had been easy to say that her doubts were just wedding jitters. But now after hearing what he said her doubts were growing rapidly._

_She almost wanted to confront Hao about it. But she knew if she did then he'd know about her doubts and it'd hurt him. So she resolved to keep quiet to protect the man she loved._

"_Knock knock," Hao joked as he entered the tent. "I just came to say goodnight."_

_Umi smiled at him. "You're so sweet. What'd I do to deserve you?" she asked. _

"_You made me fall in love," he responded smiling sweetly at her. She smiled back willing the doubts to leave her alone. She was happy. Why couldn't her mind just accept that?_

_Hao sat down next to her and held her face staring at it lovingly. Then he leaned in and kissed her passionately. As she kissed back she prayed that her doubts would die down soon. And though she didn't want to she realized that she had to confront Ren if she ever wanted to get rid of these doubts and enjoy her life with Hao._

"_I love you," she whispered as he pulled away and she was sure that she meant it whole heartedly._

"But I didn't," Umi whispered staring at the page. She could tell that whatever happened she now hated Hao as much as she had once loved him. She knew because every time she read his name she could feel a little burst of anger well up inside her.

Ren also seemed afraid that she might go back to Hao. When she asked about him Ren seemed genuinely worried about her curiosity about Hao.

She loved Ren now. Even without her memories she knew that much. He had been so patient with her. So understanding of everything she couldn't remember. He'd even backed off and let her sort out her confusion without pressuring her into loving him. These things alone were making her fall back into love with him.


	13. Chapter 12: Long Lost Love

Mai: Ok sorry that it took me a while to get this up. I really tried to make this a good chapter. I hope I don't disappoint those of you who have been waiting for this. I'm also going to try to get my next edited chapter up soon. Funny thing is I was ready to post this chapter yesterday but my internet stopped working so I had to wait for it to be fixed. Sorry for the delay.

Disclaimer: If I had a nickel for every time I wished that I owned Shaman King (or any of the other animes that I love) I'd be rich enough to buy Shaman King. Sadly though that doesn't happen so I'm just a lowly fanfiction author. Enjoy!

Chapter 12: Long Lost Love

"_Hao, for the last time you can't come with me today," Umi told her concerned fiancé. "I'm trying to set up a surprise for you. And if you come with me and see what I'm planning it won't be a surprise now will it." _

"_But what if the X-laws find you?" Hao asked thinking that this time for sure he'd come up with a winning argument. _

"_You taught me how to deal with them. I'm strong I'll be alright. Besides I heard some of the officiators talking yesterday and apparently the X-laws have been a little too disruptive lately. And if the break anymore Patch property they might get kicked out of the tournament. So I'm sure today you'll find that they're keeping to themselves." _

_This was getting ridiculous. He was so overprotective of her. She knew it was only because he loved her but still he couldn't keep her under constant protection it just wasn't practical. _

"_I'd feel better if you took someone with you. Maybe the Hanagumi?" he asked. _

"_Hao, you and I both know that Mari or Matchi would tell you anything you wanted to know if you asked them. And Kanna can't keep anything from them. You know how to get what you want from everyone in the group. So if I want my little surprise to stay a surprise I have to go alone," Umi told him grinning. "And don't try to pretend you wouldn't try to find out what it is. You always were a little too curious for your own good."_

"_Only when it concerns you," he said sexily. _

"_It won't work. The sexy voice isn't going to get me this," she declared triumphantly. "I'm going alone and that's that."_

_Hao sighed. He could tell that there was no way in hell he could win this. "Fine," he muttered admitting defeat. "But take a cell phone or something with you so you can call if you run into any trouble."_

"_I will," she told him cheerfully. "I'll see you later. I love you." She turned to go but Hao grabbed her arm and spun her back around to face him. He was grinning in that mischievous way that she had come to (usually) take as a very good sign._

"_Don't I get a kiss goodbye?" he asked in his sexy voice. _

"_Of course. How careless of me," she said already leaning in._

_Hao made sure their kiss was a long one. When he reluctantly broke away it was only because the two of them needed air badly. _

"_I love you," she said again breathless. "If that was a simple goodbye I can't wait to see how your response to my surprise is."_

"_I'm sure whatever you have planned it'll warrant a spectacular response on my part."_

"_I can't wait," she said almost shivering with excitement. "I'll see you later."_

_As she walked away her heart sank thinking about what she was about to do. She was going to see his enemies. She was acting on the doubts she had about this amazing guy. Why did she have to do this to her relationship?_

_She just needed to tell herself that as soon as she heard their lies she'd see how ridiculous those doubts of hers were and she could move one with her life. _

_She finally arrived at the hotel where Yoh and his group were staying. She took a deep breath as she crossed the street and entered the building._

"_Hello," she greeted the friendly looking Patch girl sitting at the desk in the lobby. "I'm looking for Asakura Yoh and Tao Ren. Could you tell me what rooms they're in?"_

"_Sure. Hold on a moment," the girl said turning to check something. "Asakura Yoh is in room 304 and Tao Ren is in room 305."_

"_Thank you," Umi said as she rushed off to the elevator. _

_As the elevator door pulled open to reveal the dusty third floor hallway Umi started to get really nervous. What if they were actually on to something? Could she take the truth?_

_She shook her head. Of course whatever they were going to say was a lie. It had to be. Hao loved her way too much to ever do anything that could potentially hurt her. Hell he couldn't even let her out the door without getting worried. But if she really believed that then why was she even here?_

_She sighed. She couldn't keep pretending she didn't have doubts about Hao. He was amazing but she had to know that there wasn't anything wrong before she could let herself be happy._

_She took a deep breath as she approached the door to room 305. She raised her fist and reluctantly knocked on the door finally committing to the doubts she loathed. _

_To her surprise the person who came to the door was not Ren but Horo-Horo. The shocked look on his face told her that he didn't expect to see her anymore than she had expected to see him._

"_U-umi!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"_

"_I want answers. Your little group tried to get my attention a few days ago and I want to know why. Now talk," she growled._

"_Horo-Horo, for god's sake who's at the door," the angry voice of Ren Tao demanded as he and an African American guy Umi had never seen before rounded the corner._

_Ren's look of shock was almost as profound as Horo's. But somehow there was something about his facial expression and the look in his eyes told her that he was pleased that she was there._

_He smirked. "Well I didn't think my little hint would actually work," he said amused. "From the looks of things you were too blinded by love to believe anything bad about your bastard of a fiancée."_

"_Hao's not a bastard. And I haven't said that I believe anything yet. I just came here so I could stop ruining the best thing that's ever happened to me," Umi told the smirking Tao angrily. _

"_Whatever you say. But I think we both know that you wouldn't be here if you didn't suspect something was wrong with 'the best thing that's ever happened to you'."_

_Her heart skipped a beat. He was right and he knew it. Her silence only made the smirk on his face stretch wider. _

"_Cat got your tongue?" he asked._

"_Shut up," she told him menacingly. _

"_Alright. Then let's get down to business," he said wiping the smirk off his voice taking on a more serious tone. "Horo-Horo and I have something we think you should see. Horo-Horo go get the file." _

Umi glanced at the clock beside her bed. It was getting late. She knew she should probably put down the book and go to bed.

She sighed it was only now that she saw what time it was that she felt tired at all. She really wanted to read some more but she knew she'd just fall asleep anyway. Reluctantly she closed the book and turned off her light.

When Umi awoke next morning Sen was floating above her head smiling cheerfully at her.

"Morning," Umi muttered sleepily.

"Good morning, Umi-dono," Sen responded cheerfully. "I do believe this is the first time you haven't been shocked to wake with me hovering nearby."

"Yeah I guess you're right," Umi said smiling. "Guess that's one more step towards getting my life back to normal."

"I'm glad to see you're recovering well," Sen said returning the smile. "Especially with Ren-dono."

"Yeah," Umi muttered smiling. "I guess you know you're meant to be with someone if you lose all your memories of them and still manage to fall in love even if they don't tell you a thing."

"He's a good man. I always liked him," Sen boasted. "He always tries to make you happy."

"Have you ever been in love, Sen?" Umi asked abruptly.

"Yes, I still am in fact," she said a small blush covering the female samurai's face.

"Who is he?" Umi asked curiously. She'd never thought that her guardian ghost would have a love life.

"Amidamaru," she admitted shyly.

"Yoh's samurai!?" Umi exclaimed in astonishment. "When did this happen? Did I know about it?"

"It started a long time ago, back when I was still alive. I worked as a servant girl in the mansion of a greedy lord about six hundred years ago give or take a few years. My father had taught me to fight so I decided to test my skills against the lord's samurai by dueling them in disguise at night. I beat every single one of them. The Lord was furious and began to offer a huge reward to whoever could identify me.

"Then one night I challenged Amidamaru. He was so skilled that he beat me almost effortlessly. So I did the honorable thing and let him unmask me. I expected him to turn me in and claim the reward but a few weeks past and he did no such thing.

"Finally I confronted him and asked him why he was keeping quiet especially with such a tempting reward. He told me that he thought I was far too talented to be executed for something so trivial.

"After that I started sparing with him at night. During our breaks we'd talk to each other. He told me about his childhood and his friend Mosuke who worked for the Lord as a sword smith. And I told him about my father, how I learned to fight, and how I had come to work for the Lord.

"Eventually I came to realize that I had fallen in love with him. However I wasn't sure if he could ever feel the same way about me so I kept my mouth shut.

"One night when were talking after our match I casually asked him if he'd ever been in love. He told me that he was in fact in love with someone. He described this beautiful spirited wonderful creature he was in love with. My heart started to ach more and more with every word he said. I was so sure that he could never love me if he had this girl.

"It took me a few days but I finally worked up the courage to ask him what her name was. He looked me right in the eyes and for a second he looked truly nervous. But then his expression turned to one of pure determination.

"'Senko,' he replied. I've never felt happier than I did in that moment. Warm tears of disbelief spilled from my eyes. He started to panic thinking his confession had upset me.

"'Sen, I'm sorry if I up-' I cut off his apology by ramming my lips against his.

"'You idiot, I love you too,' I told him after we broke away.

"Well after that our sparring matches started having less and less sparring in them. One day he asked me if I would consider marrying him. I told that he didn't even have to ask he should already know the answer.

"We were going to ask the Lord for permission as soon as possible. But," Sen's face lost the loving glow and a look of pain and sadness crept into her eyes. "But the Lord ordered him to kill his best friend, Mosuke. When he tried to help Mosuke he was killed."

"When I found out I was heartbroken. It completely destroyed me and my grief took over. I killed the Lord and all of the samurai that had killed my Amidamaru. Afterwards I was executed for my crimes. I could have fought and escaped but by that time I had no strength left.

"So I spent my entire afterlife looking for him. Turns out he was in the one place I never looked waiting for Mosuke to come for him. Somehow I never thought he'd stay behind in the place that had brought him so much pain."

There was a moment of silence. Umi wasn't sure how to react to this story. They had been so in love but what had happened was so terrible.

"I'm sorry," Umi told her guardian sincerely.

"It's all right. It wasn't all bad. I met you and I have thoroughly enjoyed being your ghost and you brought me to Amidamaru again. We've agreed that our duties are more important but someday we'll be able to go on to the afterlife together," Sen said a kind smile replacing the pained look on her face.

"I'm glad everything has worked out well then," Umi said returning the smile.

A loud knock on the door diverted Umi's attention away from her guardian.

"Come in," she called. The door opened to reveal Ren standing out in the hall. "Ohayo, Ren-kun!"

"Ohayo," he said returning the greeting. "Umi there's something I want to talk to you about. Would you mind taking a walk with me?"

"Sure. I'm starving could we include breakfast in this walk?" she asked.

"Definitely," he said smiling. Umi blushed as it dawned on her how very date like this walk had just become. "Let's go then."

She nodded and followed him out wondering what it was he wanted to discuss with her.


	14. Chapter 13: Doubt

Mai: Sorry that it takes me so long to update. I have a very busy life. Wow I've been working on this story for a really long time. I can't believe I still think that someday I'll finish it. I think I'm coming up on the ending soon. I think there's about 5 chapters left max and probably an epilogue. God only knows how long it'll take me to finish all that but there will be an ending….eventually.

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King. Anyone who thinks I do is either really stupid or recently suffered a very serious head injury.

Chapter 13: Doubt

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Umi asked as the waitress cleared away the remains of her and Ren's breakfast.

"Ok, how do I say this?" he muttered to himself. "Umi, you know don't you?"

"Know what?" she asked a little too innocently.

"About you and me," he responded. "That I'm your fiancé."

She met his gaze and nodded slowly. "I didn't want to tell you until I figured out more about us."

"You could've just asked me. I'll tell you anything you want to know. You already know how we first met. What else do you me to tell you about? Our first date? When I proposed?"

"I want to keep reading that book. I feel it'll give me the answers I need. And I want to be around you. Just talking to you I feel like I'm learning a little bit about myself," she responded.

"I love you," Ren said. "I'll do whatever it takes to help you remember."

"I love you, too. I'm not saying that because I feel like I should. I really do love you. I couldn't help but fall right back in love with you. I'm extremely confused about everything in my life right now so I don't think I can marry you yet," she said.

"I understand," he said sadly.

"But I do want to marry you. I need to get a clearer picture of my life so will you wait until I do that?" she asked.

He responded by leaning across the table and pressing his lips to hers. She closed her eyes and kissed him back.

"I'll wait forever if I have to," he told her sincerely.

The two of them ended up spending yet another afternoon alone together.

"I have an idea that I'd like to run by you," Ren said as the two of them walked through the park together.

"Shoot," she said smiling.

"I want to try to recreate our first date. I'll take you to the same place and we can see if that sparks some new memories."

Umi blushed. Sure she had been spending a lot of alone time with Ren lately but somehow the word date had never entered into the equation. She suddenly felt all excited and nervous sitting across from him.

_That's silly,_ she told herself, _We're engaged. We've probably been on hundreds of dates. Still for me it's kind of like our first._

"O-ok," she said trying not to let this new flustered nervousness show.

"Good," Ren said smiling. He knew just what she was thinking but had the courtesy to pretend he didn't. "I'll pick you up at 7."

"Sounds good," she replied smiling as the butterflies danced around her stomach.

An hour later as she sat alone in her room Umi took a deep breath trying to calm down. Since she had woken up Ren had always given her this warm fuzzy feeling when he was in the room. That familiarity had helped her open up and fall back in love with her fiancé.

But now that he was actually taking her out and recreating their first date no less it excited her. At the same time though she felt incredibly nervous. What if she wasn't what he expected? She knew he loved her but she couldn't get rid of the irrational fear that he wouldn't want her anymore.

Since worrying about it was pointless Umi decided to turn to the one thing that seemed to help her in this confusing world: the book.

"_Here," Horo-Horo said as he shoved the thick folder into her hands. "This is everything we have on who you really are."_

"_What's that supposed to mean?" Umi asked menacingly. _

"_Did Horo-Horo ever tell you his last name? It's Usui just like yours. Isn't that interesting especially considering how you two look so much alike," Ren said casually. _

"_Are you saying that he's my- No that can't be true. My parents abandoned me. I don't have a brother."_

"_You have two choices. You can read it and then see if you want to believe or not. Or you can walk away and demonstrate that you do have some faith in your fiancé."_

_She really wanted to pick the second one to run away and show them that she loved and trusted Hao. But the part of her that doubted him was too strong for her to resist._

_The first thing inside the file was a picture of a young couple in their twenties. The woman sat in a wooden rocking chair while the man stood behind her with his hand on her shoulder. The rings on their fingers told Umi that they were married. The woman was extremely pregnant and her happiness seemed to radiate off the picture in waves. She noticed that they both had blue hair and eyes and looked a good deal like her and Horo-Horo._

_She picked up another picture that was behind the first. This one showed the woman lying in a hospital bed smiling down at her newborn baby. Her husband sat beside her with arms around her shoulders also staring in wonder at their child._

_The next thing Umi pulled out was a birth certificate. She gasped and dropped it in shock. It read: _

_Usui Umi born May 17__th__, 1984 at 8:32 p.m._

_It couldn't be real she tried to tell herself. Finding out her name and birthday couldn't be too difficult and once you had that information forging a birth certificate was a piece of cake._

_After that there were several pictures of the couple holding or play with or feeding the baby girl. There was even one where the girl was hugging her pregnant mother._

_Then came the news articles and the police reports. Pictures of the woman crying and her husband looking angry. The little girl smiled up at her from three different pages all of the captions begged anyone with information to contact her parents and the police._

_She read a heartbreaking interview with the mother. The journalist described the look of pure heartbreak on the woman's face as she talked about her missing daughter. Umi stared at the picture of the woman in tears being comforted by her husband who was holding their newborn son. The caption said the baby's name was Usui Horokeu._

_Umi looked at the final thing in the file and her heart skipped a beat. Here was the final piece of evidence that proved Hao's lies. Even after seeing the other things she still held on to the hope that Hao had merely found her somewhere and knew nothing of the kidnapping._

_Dear Asakura-san,_

_I need your help. I need all information you have about the whereabouts of Asakura Hao. He took our child. His detestable fire spirit tore her right out of my arms when my husband and I refused to help him in his insane quest. I have told the police about the kidnapping but I fear they cannot help me. I couldn't tell them that an infant stole my daughter. I cannot lose my precious baby girl. Please I beg of you if you know anything tell me. If you do my family shall be eternally in your debt. _

_Yours sincerely, _

_Usui Machiko _

"_This can't be," she said dropping the letter. "He may be a lot of things but he's not a liar. Not to me." _

"_I know it's hard to believe bu-" Horo-Horo started to say before being interrupted by Umi. _

"_Shut up! Did you really think this was going to work? I love Hao and that is stronger than any amount of stupid lies you can throw at me!" Umi shouted defiantly. _

_**You can't deny that you believe them though,**__ a voice inside her head said softly. _

_Shut up! I don't believe it and I never will, she forcefully pushed the voice to the back of her head._

"_Like it or not this is the truth. Hao has lied to you for your entire life. Can you really ignore this?" Ren asked his eyes staring into hers determinedly. _

"_Why do you care so much?" she muttered. "I'm the enemy but I can't help you kill him. He has never told me his weaknesses nor do I wish to know. You can't use me against him. So stop trying to turn me against my fiancé it won't work!"_

_She pushed her way past Ren and out the door leaving the contents of the file strewn across the floor. Horo-Horo started to go after her but Ren held him back._

"_She needs time to think about this. She'll come around if we just give her some space," the Chinese shaman told his friend._

_Umi ran. She didn't care how she must look tearing through Patch Village at breakneck speed. Finally her legs gave out and she collapsed in a tear strewn heap in a small deserted side street._

_She didn't want to believe what she had just seen. But that small part of her that always doubted the man she loved was gaining strength and she hated herself for letting it. _

"_He loves me," she murmured to herself. "He wouldn't do this. They're liars. I can't let them manipulate me anymore." _

'_**But what if they're not? What if this is the truth?**__' the part of her she despised asked. _

'_Shut up!' she screamed in her head. 'I'm not listening anymore.' _

"_I won't doubt him anymore," she said lifting herself off the ground confident in her decision. _

'_**You can't ignore me,**__' the voice insisted. _

'_Watch me,' she replied. _

"_No peeking!" Umi told Hao sternly as she led him over to the promised surprise a blind fold over his eyes. _

"_Alright," he said pouting. "But I hope you know you're driving me crazy. You know how impatient I get with surprises."_

"_That's not very royal of you. A king has to know when to be patient with his subjects," she said poking him in the side. _

"_I suppose you're right. And I guess a husband also has to know when to be patient with his wife," he said grinning. "Although his wife has to know when it's time to stop driving her husband insane with secrets." _

"_You can take it off now!" she announced cheerfully. _

"_Finally," he muttered slipping the dark cloth off his eyes. _

_He stood there stunned as he looked at the private little table his fiancée had set up in his tent. It was covered with a beautiful deep red cloth (his favorite color) and topped with romantic white candles and covered silver food trays. He turned around to see that she was wearing a beautiful shimmering silvery blue dress that stopped at her knees with matching silver shoes. His favorite aspect of the outfit however was the low neckline treating him to a view that she normally wouldn't have felt comfortable displaying. Her hair was tied up in a complicated looking braided bun and she was wearing the blue dangly earrings he had gotten her for her birthday two years ago. _

"_Well," she said tentatively after he had stood there quietly for two minutes, "do you like it?"_

_He responded by leaning over and treating her to another one of his amazing breathtaking kisses. "It's wonderful, my love," he told her when they finally broke apart._

_She blushed. "Thank you. I just really wanted to do something for you. You've spent so much time making me happy. It was the least I could do." _

"_I love you," he whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "You make me so happy." _

"_I love you, too," she replied trying not to let her guilt over her visit to Ren show. _

"_Now let's eat!" he exclaimed leading her to the table. "This smells amazing!" _

"_I wish I could say I cooked it myself but it's hard to make a good romantic dinner without a real kitchen especially if you want to keep it a secret from your fiancé. So I had to resort to getting this from a restaurant," she told him. _

"_It's the thought that counts. Besides there'll be plenty of time for us to cook for each other in the future," he said smiling. _

_The rest of the evening was wonderful for the young couple. Umi had made sure that the rest of the camp knew what was going on and wouldn't bother them. By the time she left her fiancé's tent her doubts and guilt were almost completely forgotten. Her mind was full of Hao. She laughed remembering how stubbornly fought (and eventually won) to be allowed to clean up the table. He was so sweet. He'd told her that since she had gone to all the trouble of arranging the dinner he should be the one to clean up. _

_When she entered her tent and glanced at her bed she was brought back to reality by an object that she had not placed there. It was a folder. The folder that Ren and HoroHoro had shown her earlier that day. _

_On top of the folder sat a note that read:_

_Thought you might need this. If you change your mind feel free to come to us for help. _

_Her first instinct was to destroy it but for some reason she instead picked it up and shoved it into a bag of her clothes._

'_**So much for being doubt free**__,' the voice gloated. A tear rolled down Umi's cheek as she realized that she needed to find a way to confront Hao about this if she ever wanted her mind to be at peace with her decision to marry him. While she knew it would break his heart to know that she had doubted him for even a second she still believed with all her heart that he would prove her doubts pointless. _


End file.
